The PIP Mega Trial, the first of three cases over the scandal, opens today. A separate investigation into possible involuntary homicide involving the death of a French woman with PIP implants is around the corner.

Jean-Claude Mas is the founder of the French firm Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP), third biggest global supplier of breast implants.

Among the jobs Mas, aged 73 held were in  insurance, Cognac sales, selling sterilisation material for dentists.

Sentencing, if convicted for aggravated fraud is up to five years' jail and a €37,500 (£32,000) fine. Over 5,100 women Plaintiffs; French, Argentinean and Austrian with over 300 lawyers are involved in the trial. 

Last year, Mas was jailed for approximately 7 months for failing to pay €100,000 bail.

Although not established , the French government recently identified four known cases of cancer in women who have had the implants, two of whom have died.

Doctors leading into this study noticed an abnormally high incidence of rupture of PIP implants with far higher rate of splitting than other brands.  The Study, regarding the Implants will take centre stage in respect of placing Liability.  The Study would show that in a cost cutting measure which profited PIP over €1m each year,  the Company continued to use for over 10 years, cheap “illegal homemade concoction of industrial-grade and agricultural silicone not fit for use on humans industrial”. 

About half of the 30,000 women who had PIP implants have had them removed and about 10% having rupturing.

PIP hid evidence of the silicone from the European inspectors. Use of the cheaper, substandard silicone saved the company €1m a year. 

The elements of intention in a fraud trial are there.

The element of profit motivation will aggravate sentencing. 

The evidence may include such experiences.

• French policeman found cans of industrial silicone in a van. 
• One of the victims had stated having the PIP implants for over seven years after reconstruction breast cancer surgery. "Last year I found out the implants were defective but I was having chemotherapy at the time so I couldn't have them removed immediately. It's as if a foreign element is poisoning your body as well as the cancer”.
• One factory worker told the Guardian it as like "having a ticking time bomb in your body". 
• Another Dominique, who will attend the trial, told "The pain we went through was psychological and physical… we were mutilated, re-operated on. It's not easy to survive that after cancer.". "It's very hard to rebuild my life. We feel judged, we feel that we're not taken seriously because it's linked to cosmetic surgery. That's unfair. This scandal is criminal. You wouldn't implant this type of material into animals, let alone women."